A Thomas De Gendt workout?

What would the workout look like if you wanted to train to ride your bike like Thomas De Gendt?

For those unfamiliar, here is how Thomas De Gendt rides…

– Full gas from the gun trying to establish, or make, the day’s breakaway.
– About 70km - 100km riding in the breakaway
– From 30km - 60km out, he attacks the breakaway
– Tries to solo to victory
– 98.7% of the time it fails
– On days like today, when it works…it’s goddamn spectacular

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This is how his last month looked before starting this years Paris-Nice.

And this is his last trainingcamp before the 2018 TdF (scroll down for screenshots of every day.)
https://www.hln.be/sport/wielrennen/tour-de-france/hoe-thomas-de-gendt-de-tour-voorbereidt-zeventien-etappes-een-hoogtetent-meer-dan-36-000-hoogtemeters-en-hopelijk-een-ijsje~ad507f1a9/

So i guess lots! of LSD with a murderous amount of mountainrepeats sprinkled in.
He’s the king of training solo and loves long days in the saddle.

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I remember hearing an interview with one of his teammates who also said he doesn’t warm up before a stage either. Just gets on and goes. So the session would have to go from the gun!
The session could possibly be called ‘anti-social?” Pretty much suns up his riding.

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TDG is a total badass. Love watching that guy ride. If I could equate 3 workouts that sum him up I would say it starts with some long VO2 efforts in the 3-4 min range to establish the break, followed by a good while at slightly supra-threshold efforts finished by long durations at just below threshold followed by a full gas 90s effort.

(VO2) Establishing the break: Monadnock +2
(Supra-Threshold) Riding the break: Mt Hale
(Sweet Spot) Maintaining the break: Galena +1
(VO2/Anaerobic) Attacking the break: Baird +2

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I actually have a self designed workout which kind of mimics this style of riding as it’s pretty much how I race all my races. Starts as 5-15min @ 110% FTP (establish breakaway) 20mins of 4min 90-95% 1min 105% (kind of like riding a break and pulling hardish turns) then 20mins of 2min 120% 15min @ 95-100% with a final 3min all out which is usually 120% again (attacking the break). 5-10min recos between efforts although I have done this one without reco before.
Very fun workout.

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He’s today’s Jens Voigt. Equally great to watch (and pretend to be when one’s suffering…or is that just me?)

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I think I remember him say that he doesn’t do massages. He likes the tension in the legs. :man_shrugging:t2:

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I wish my CTL was 120 in March

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I wish my CTL was 120 ever

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tons of sweet spot (94%), threshold bursts, and sprinkle in the vo2max.
Is he a grinder on the pedals If so, muscle tension intervals early on to get that grind on!

Yes, true. TDG is a beast.

What is “CTL” ?

Chronic Training Load.

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Sounds to me like you guys are dreaming up a “kitchen sink” ride

TDG uploads all his data to Strava. Including power data. Weight according to him: “I’m mostly between 70 and 72 kg”:

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image

:frowning_with_open_mouth: those numbers! 4+hrs at 4.7watt/kg!!!

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In case someone has missed it, here it is the huge effort that De Gendt did yesterday, he really deserved the win!

#TDF2019, Stage 8

THOMAS DE GENDT'S DATA 🏆

Weighted Avg Power | 343 W ⚡️

Distance | 204.47 km
Moving Time | 5:14:42
Elevation | 3,874 m

Speed | Avg 39.0 Kph, Max 85.4 Kph
Cadence | Avg 87 rpm, Max 127 rpm
Power | Avg 311 W, Max 1,166 W
Calories | 6,555 kcal

Device | SRM PC8

— ammattipyöräily (@ammattipyoraily) 13 luglio 2019

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Crazy

Anyone else best suited for 420w for 20-30min repeats? :flushed::tired_face:

He said in the post-race press conference that the abundance of 20- to 30-minute climbs in the area [where he trains] mimicked the efforts he had to put in today.

"They’re perfect for me, and it’s hard to chase on climbs like this. If you have six climbs like this then there’s almost no team who can put two or three guys on the front of the bunch to try and reduce the gap.

“If we ride 420 watts, then they can’t keep pushing 450. That’s just impossible. That’s why I always pick stages like this – because they just suit me the best.”

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I’m kinda surprised his max power wasn’t higher at some point. I know he never had to all out sprint but 1100W isn’t ‘that’ high